Nyarko doubtful for SuperLiga

The Fire's injury situation has been extraordinary, and there's no guarantee it'll get better any time soon.
Offensive threat Patrick Nyarko, the latest star to go down, is nursing concussion-like symptoms that started after he took a hard hit against Columbus on Saturday. He didn't dress for Thursday's 1-0 home loss to Real Salt Lake and may not be available for the SuperLiga tourney that begins on Wednesday.
``We hope we can have him. He's an important player for us,'' coach Carlos de los Cobos said after the Real Salt Lake match, ``but his health is more important.''
Defender Dasan Robinson, who recovered from early season injury problems to take over at right back when Tim Ward went down, is also hurt again. This time it's a hamstring.
The word on striker Collins John's mysterious ailment is that it's a gastro-intestinal thing. While he is training again, he's not expected to play for a couple weeks.
And there's still no word on Calen Carr and John Thorrington. Both figured to be key contributors again this season, but neither has played in a game yet.
Given all the walking wounded, it's surprising that de los Cobos has his team at 4-5-5 at this stage of his first season on the job. He's been playing with an awfully young lineup that includes a rookie goalkeeper, and Andrew Dykstra has handled that job quite well given the circumstances.
Latest young player to step up was defender Steven Kinney, who got his first start against Real Salt Lake with Robinson out. Rookie Kinney was slowed by injuries earlier but might be able to help out now based on is play against the defending MLS Cup champions.
``I'm very happy with Stevie,'' said de los Cobos. ``He showed confidence, and that's not easy for a young player.''
``He's done great,'' veteran defender C.J. Brown said of Kinney. ``If he hadn't been injured you would have seen him sooner. He's a good kid, works hard and is a hard-nosed defender.''